Year XXXX February 14
Oh by the gods I have suffered quite a shock today! I have not paid much attention to the youngsters of the clan because the adults have been so fascinating with their interactions. The mountain clan members still eat meat and the plains clan still prefers their Vegan diet but the couples have been sampling the others food. The vegans do not seem to care for raw meat but the meat eaters do have a taste for wheat, I'm glad to know that they are not as limited in their food sources as I thought. Out on the plains where I first met Effar and his clan, there aren't many animals except for chickens and those are hardly big enough to be more than a snack for full grown Enderman.
I should have been watching the new children running around, Tiny's enjoying his position as the oldest child because he gets to boss around the younger kids when their parents aren't looking and he's still young enough to run to his mother for comfort when he gets caught at it. Sooner or later he be able to escape punishment so I hope he grows out of this soon, Tiny is enough of a troublemaker without his partner in crime Sven there to help in the youthful pranks but together they are nearly unstoppable.
Most of the Enderchildren have gotten their eye colors and have small teeth, claws, and they like nibbling on practically everything including Kefka's tail and on occasion and my pumpkin. I am lucky to have a few spares because they've done a number on the first one. Kefka had enough of being snacked on and treated the kids as if they were wolf pups, the adults were stunned but let the incident slide. I suppose the sooner they learn how far they can go with a wolf the better or they could possibly aggravate an entire pack. Wolves are organized and can match Endermen in combat especially when the pack is quite large.
Oh, back to where it started. Apparently I talk when I write and the newest offspring of Adone and Effar has been slowly learning English from my ramblings, enough to know some basic sentence structure and meanings at least. What he says sounds very awkward though and occasionally he gets so quiet I can't hear him. I was about to curl up for the night when the boy wandered over away from his family's watchful gazes and startled me out of my revere with one word; Hello.
At first I did not notice it but he shook me and said it again, the ink sack I was about to carefully puncture to dip my pen into splattered all over what I was writing and the text was lost. He didn't leave it there though; the kid smiled once he had gotten my attention and he tapped himself on the collarbone, said his name and pointed at me.
It is the easiest form of communication really. Gestures with simple words attached to them were just within my grasp while running on low sleep and a bolt of adrenaline from the scare. Sven is indeed a male and he knows I'm a sun dweller because his mom told him so, he also wanted to be my friend and could he feed the wolf. I became aware that Adone was watching her son at some point so it seemed best to let the boy give Keffy a scrap of pork and seem as non-threatening as possible. Last thing I need as the clan leaders becoming hostile, I would be chased away, injured or killed.
Our first conversation was short and by the end, Sven had learned my name, was trying a few new words before he curled up at Kefka's side to sleep, we sure didn't sleep until Sasha slunk over, and gingerly collected her brother with blue green eyes. I never considered myself a teacher but if Sven thinks talking English is more than just a momentary game I'll have to put some effort into being good enough at teaching to show this Enderchild how to speak intelligibly with humans. Maybe some of the other youngsters will learn with him.
The whole clan likes to keep an eye on Sven and all the females have gathered around Adone during the first months when the kid's eyes finally gained their coloring. It is a mark of status to care for the children of higher-ranking families and they can't get higher than Sven. Until he was old enough to run from the attention, he suffered being handled and mothered with grace most of the time and only bit a few overzealous caregivers a handful of times. There is no lack of sitters for the kids since there are more adults than children, which is good because these curious imps are good at getting into things.
Amelia in particular has benefited from Sven's presence since Tiny has made friends with the leader's son; her new mate basks in the glory of that status in a new clan and hides little treasures for the boys to find like shards of brightly colored stone or a blaze rod taken from a defeated miner. The boys creel over each find and they take the glittery prize out to show off to the other children. There's rarely a fight that draws blood but I wonder at what age the kids will start learning how to defend themselves from the threats in the world and how many will survive to adulthood in this clan. For now things look good and the whole clan seems happy with four new kids to look after since Sven's birth.
In other clans I have seen an Enderchild taken out by aggravated spider jockeys and the occasional creeper and would never wish that tragedy on this clan. Of all the clans I've shadowed this one has worked its way close to my heart I think mostly because I've finally come to see these creatures as people in their own right.
Henri Lemark